Web-Spectre

"He had a very nasty bald head... the streaks of hair across it were much less like hair than cobwebs... his face... was perfectly dry, and the eyes were very deep-sunk; and over them, from the eyebrows to the cheek-bone, there were cobwebs-thick."

--"The Tractate Middoth"

Some evil wizards of 6th level or higher prepare themselves-or herself before death to become web-spectres. The process takes one year per level, and the would-be spectre must arrange to have himself interred after death in an underground chamber, sitting or standing in a lifelike pose. Any treasure the spectre possesses is found here.

A web-spectre appears as a humanoid mass of spider webs, dirty from collected dust and grit, complete with a colony of 30-120 (3d4 x 10) spiders living in its body. Unlike some species of undead, it can shamble about in broad daylight. A particularly daring spectre can even pass for a human, if it is fully clothed and wears gloves and head-covering gear.

Combat: The web-spectre hits with its malformed fists for 1-4 hp damage, or it can opt to grab instead. A grab counts as an attack but inflicts no damage. Instead the spectre releases 3--18 spiders onto its victim. The spiders are small (AC 10, 1 hp, THAC0 20, Drng 1 hp), but their numbers can overwhelm a character.

The web-spectre is silent and stealthy. Opponents suffer a -3 penalty to surprise rolls (1-8 on 1d10). It can cast wizard spells at the same level it knew in life. It can teleport without error twice per day, appearing in the most unexpected places, such as stairways, cupboards, and attics. lt is immune to sleep, charm, hold, and cold-based spells. It is immune to poisons and paralyzation. It can be turned as a spectre, and a splash of holy water inflicts 2-8 hp damage upon it. It can be hit by ordinary weapons, and fire causes double'damage to the creature. However, it can absorb any spider webbing within a hundred-yard radius to repair its body, at a rate of 2 hp per round. (There are few places on the Prime Material Plane totally free of cobwebs; even a grassy meadow is inhabited by thousands of tiny spiders.) Any one area becomes depleted of webbing in 2d6 rounds (longer in well-webbed places like crypts and dungeons), so a spectre tries to end a conflict quickly, or at least shift the battle to a new location when hard pressed.

lf reduced to 0 hit points, the web-spectre's unnatural lifeforce can sometimes (75%) abandon its matted silk body and create another one elsewhere. To prevent this, a remove curse, abjure, or similar spell must be cast on the tattered remains.

Habitat/Society: A web-spectre is essentially a minor form of lich, and this form of quasi-immortality is sometimes chosen by mages who are not powerful enough to become true liches. They are normally solitary beings, but web-spectres will make contact with wizards, liches, and other characters in attempts to attain new spells or other knowledge. They do not actively seek to destroy life as do many undead creatures, but they are easily angered and seek revenge on any character they perceive as having wronged them.

Ecology: Like all forms of undead, web~spectres have no place in nature. They have a special rapport with arachnids, and sometimes they employ monstrous spiders as guards.